Harry Potter: Through the Storm
by Frelise
Summary: Taking place during their sixth year at Hogwarts, Hermione and Draco find themselves in the middle of a brutal and unexpected blizzard. Will the two join forces to figure out how to return safely back into Hogwarts, or kill each other trying?
1. Chapter 1

_**This is my first story, so the beginning chapter is pretty short. I'm trying to get use to writing, but it may take me a while.**_ **_Please leave feedback, I'd be most grateful! **_Keep in mind this branches out from the actual storyline, so it wont completely follow the path the HP books take. _**  
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Rain drops splattered against the window, the small beads of water trailing down the glass until merging with another. It was a gloomy grey outside, the sun completely hidden from view behind a massive layer of purple and grey clouds. No one could have predicted the rain on this particular day, as just an hour ago the weather had appeared anything but stormy. The sun had been blazing, with not a cloud in sight! Yet now, with the sprinkle of rain drizzling down, it was hard to believe that the day had been anything other than the dreary state it was in now.

Hermione Granger sat perched on the windowsill, her eyes peering not at the rain flecked window, but beyond it, where a boy sat much like she herself was. He was seated beneath a large oak tree, a black cloak wrapped around his small frame and an emerald scarf tucked around his pale neck. His eyes – such a mesmerizing blue – gazed as if in a trance at the ground. The rain seemed to be falling heavier now, but it didn't seem to faze Draco Malfoy. Not many things did.

There was something off about him today, something… different. But what it was, she couldn't quite put a finger on it. Could it be he, Draco Malfoy, was… sad? The boy who had teased, threatened, and bullied her (not to mention the _entire_ Gryffindor house) was actually, dare she even consider it, _vulnerable_? It was hard to believe; even more was the fact that she was feeling an unfounded desire to go down there and…

and what?

Give him a pat on the shoulder? A hug? A "Cheer up! Things will get better"?

Hah! Was she **mental**? Slytherins, least of all this specific one, did NOT deserve to be comforted. She loathed him! So why now? Why did her heart want so badly to reach out to him?

Perhaps it was simply her innate instinct to help others when they needed it. Or maybe… maybe…

No.

That had to be it.

She shut the book that had been open on her lap, albeit a bit harder than intended, and stood. Staring at him was not helping the situation.

Hermione headed out the door of the Girls Dormitory and into the Gryffindor Common Room, where her two dearest friends sat huddled near the fireplace, a potions textbook laid open between them. She felt her lip twitch – upward at first in amusement at the sight of them studying, then downward in aggravation when she recognized the book.

Catching sight of her from the corner of his eye, Ron Weasley lifted his head to meet her gaze. A goofy grin spread across his freckled face as he waved her over.

"Hey, 'mione! Mind giving us a hand here?"

"Oh, you want help from _me_? Whatever for when you have the _Half-Blood Prince_ practically giving you the answers?" She snapped, striding past them and exiting the room before Harry had a chance to retaliate.

"So obsessed with that book…" she muttered angrily, walking briskly down the Staircase, past the Great Hall, before halting, her hand hovering over the door knob leading outside.

_What am I doing? I can't believe you, Hermione Jean Granger! You are not – I repeat, NOT – going to talk to that foul, wretched Slytherin! I don't care how pathetic and mopey he looked… _

_No! _

_Well, it's just outside… _

_No-no-no!_

_But the grounds __**are **__big enough... _

_It's not like I'm bound to bump into him…_

Hermione pursed her lips before twisting the handle and pushing the door open, stepping out into the open. She was met instantly with a wave of frigid air and pelting rain the second the door closed behind her. A shiver ran down her spine as she crossed her arms tensely over her chest.

Determined, Hermione took off, heading out onto the school grounds with her head held as high as she could manage without allowing the rain to get into her eyes. However, after several minutes of walking blindly across campus, she faltered to a stop. The cold was beginning to get to her; she hadn't even grabbed her cloak, let alone a scarf or anything at all that could help stifle this impending chill.

"Are you _mad_, Granger?"

Hermione jumped, spinning around to face the speaker.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it _snows_ soon, and you're out here wearing hardly anything! For someone claiming to be brilliant, you sure aren't acting like it," Draco said through clenched teeth.

"_Malfoy_?" she narrowed her eyes, incredulous at what she saw. Out of the entire student body, which easily exceeded 2,000, what was the chance of running into the one person she had specifically went out of her way to avoid?

She clenched her jaw before straightening herself to stand at her full height. "Since when do you care? If anything, I imagined you'd be thrilled at seeing me making a fool of myself. Not to mention, you should be glowing at my m-misery!"

She flinched. _So much for sounding bold_.

She couldn't resist the stutter at the end; by this point, her teeth were clattering uncontrollably. The rain had indeed started to fall faster, heavier, and there was a definite chance of snow coming any second now.

He rolled his eyes. "_Consider me dancing on the inside_," he replied coldly.

The two stood in silence for a while until the first flakes of snow descended.

_Great_.

Hermione twisted to try and see the castle through the thick white, but she was lucky to even see Draco's green scarf a few feet away.

"Malfoy?" She gasped, shocked at the sudden blizzard they now were in the midst of.

"Granger! We need to get inside, **now**!" his voice was hard and unusually composed under such drastic circumstances.

"Which way is the castle?" Hermione shouted back, desperate to be heard over the roaring wind. Her body felt completely numb by this point, her lips already beginning to stick together, and she felt a huge pang of regret for not having brought her wand with her.

"What! I don't know! I wasn't - - -"

Whatever he had been about to say, she had no idea. The wind howled so loud in her ears, she had to clamp her hands over them to keep from buckling until the sheer intensity of it. Hermione closed her eyes tightly, trying her best to block the wrath of nature from stinging her eyes. Nothing about today was going normal, so _what was happening_?

Out of nowhere, a hand grabbed one of her arms. She didn't resist; it had to be Malfoy, no one else was around.

…Right?

Yet now that she had questioned it, a sense of fear shot through her. She forced her eyes open and strained to see the person who was now dragging her, quite roughly, off in some unknown direction. But it was no use; the weather was just too harsh. She turned her head and was about to close her eyes again when she caught sight of something that made her heart sink:

A green scarf, now faint from the piercing white of the snow, was being dragging right alongside her.


	2. Chapter 2

**So, It's been a while since I've read the books and I think I'm getting bits of information mixed. It's not /too/ big of a deal, but I apologize in advance. Just grit your teeth and try not to hate me too much! – Frelise**

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><p><em>The Dark Lord towered overhead, his blood-red eyes looking down upon the youth as if he was nothing more than something unpleasant that had been stepped in. "You <span>will<span> kill Dumbledore, Draco. Or else, your family will be the ones to sssuffer…" Voldemort's nostrils flared dangerously, the wizard raising his wand and pointing it inches away from Draco's forehead._

"Draco… Draco... _Draco_!"

Something jabbed gently into his side. He began to stir slightly, but resisted the pull to consciousness.

_Voldemort smiled. It was a twisted and evil look, so much so that Draco failed to even see how it could possibly be classified as such. But the upturned corners of his mouth paired with the distinct pleasure that now resided in his malicious eyes, there just wasn't another term for it; it was indeed a smile, simply one of a severely damaged man._

_Suddenly, Voldemort's wand began to slowly shift away from Draco. Instead of pulling his arm away, however, the wand remained pointing straight ahead, only now it faced in the direction of something behind him that he couldn't see. "Or perhapsss… your friend should be the one to fall if you fail me." Draco turned, trying to move quickly, to protect her, but it was as if he was caught in a slowing spell. Too late… he would be too late… "**Avada Kedav** -!"_

"_Draco_!" Again something hit him, but this time it wasn't a light poke to the ribs. Something hard thunked against his arm, successfully managing to drag a groan from the blonde and force his eyelids to flutter open.

Gradually his surroundings began to take shape – the oval entrance, the rocky walls, the familiar bushy-haired Gryffindor laying feet away from him. Her eyes were wide open, a look of resilience gleaming at him from beneath her long lashes, the fear being kept at bay by what could only be described as determination. Hermione Granger's body remained limp, feigning unconsciousness to the hooded figure a short distance behind her.

The look of concern that had been apparent in her facial expression seconds ago quickly deteriorated behind a mask of annoyance. Draco resisted the urge to call her on it and instead focused on the man crouched in the corner of the ill-lit cave.

The man held his wand gingerly to his temple, his lips moving rapidly without volume. A dingy fire had been thrown together hastily in front of him, and within the fire Draco could make out the faint outline of another man, wearing an identical outfit to this one – the uniform of a death eater.

Draco tore his eyes away from him, horrified. He moved his attention back to the girl in front of him, who appeared to be scrutinizing his every move.

"Who is it?" she whispered inaudibly, her eyebrows knitted together in apprehension.

"He's a… friend, of my father's," Draco replied ever so quietly, his lips barely moving around the words.

"Friend? Do you mean… are you saying he's a _Death Eater_?" Hermione hissed back, alarm creeping into her voice, only loud enough for Draco to hear.

"Well… yes," Draco replied softly, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. He had no idea why, or for that matter _how_, he had gotten onto school grounds, but it couldn't be good.

Hermione seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because her focus had shifted from the Slytherin to the cave entrance, clearly trying to figure out some ploy to escape.

Draco trained his eyes back on the Death Eater, slowly inching his fingers to his wand that was stashed in his front pocket.

C'mon… _Almost there_…

"Hey! What d'ya think yer doin'?"

Draco flinched. _So much for that idea_. Before Draco could reach his wand, a booming voice shouted "Expelliarmus!" His wand went flying into the air, falling somewhere out of sight.

Scrambling to his feet, he had just managed to get onto one knee before being knocked backward by a spell he wasn't familiar with; pain shot through the whole of his body, causing the youth to crumble in agony against the wall.

"Stop!" Hermione shouted, her voice quivering as she clambered to stand between Draco and the enemy.

The pain ebbed away, causing the Slytherin boy to gasp in relief. By the time Draco forced his eyelids open, he was again greeted by the pale face of Hermione. This time, she didn't try to conceal her fear – she gazed at him in worry, one of her hands holding Draco's head up gingerly.

Cold chuckling broke the silence. "You two _love birds_ done yet, or should I wait?"

Draco glared, angry clear by the expression of loathing on his face. "Who the hell _are_ you?" He spat, shoving Hermione away with a gruff "I'm fine!"

For a second, Hermione looked stung. Draco felt a pang of guilt; she was only trying to help, after all. But before he had made up his mind to apologize, Hermione had stood up so fast Draco barely had time to blink.

She didn't respond, instead crossing her arms tersely across her chest and staring daggers at the hooded man.

Clearly, he would hear about it later. Right now, she was just as curious about their mysterious assailant as he was...


End file.
